Skate rink on ice for Christmas Eve opening

Alice Springs residents will be swapping their thongs for ice skates when the Northern Territory's only ice skating rink reopens on Christmas Eve.

The NT Government has given $60,000 towards the operation of the rink at the Alice Springs Convention Centre.

Centre manager Ian Solomon says the rink was hugely popular last year and he is hoping it will draw crowds again.

"The ice rink last year was a huge success," he said.

"We had over 10-and-a-half-thousand people come through and that ranged from also having an ice hockey exhibition to having blue light discos to tiny tot sessions ... six years and under, so in total probably 10-and-a-half-thousand people came and tried ice [skating] for the first time in Alice Springs."